Helping financial institutions manage their accounting complexities with its software solutions: BankTEL Systems

Companies are increasingly engaged in transactions with customers to improve sales and service performance. These days, an automated financial accounting solution is necessary in order to reduce expenses, get a clear perspective of spending, and gain control over expenditures. For any business, managing expenses is as important as growing revenue. CEO, Boyce Adams, Sr., co-founded BankTEL because he saw a need for software solutions that not only interfaced with core banking systems, but could work simultaneously on different platforms to fully automate financial accounting. BankTEL was created to provide tools that streamline bill payment and simplify reporting and reconciliation for business-related expenses.

BankTEL helps financial institutions manage their expenses with easy-to-use software that maintains transparency, accountability, and regulatory compliance. Because it’s cloud based, BankTEL Ascend can be accessed anytime, from any device. It’s the only international software company that focuses solely on accounting solutions for financial institutions. With 27 years of experience, they have become the industry leaders in providing financial accounting software solutions and exceptional customer service. They respond to client issues and problem-solve quickly, usually within 30 minutes.

At first BankTEL was an outgrowth of a CPA firm, T.E. Lott & Company. By 1992, T.E. Lott Computer Services had developed accounting systems to run cable TV companies, brickyards, and the back-office accounting of banks. After analyzing the potential markets, they decided to sell the bank software. The company began with a single client and two employees. Then, in 1998, BankTEL was purchased by City Bank, one of its Texas-based clients. In 2006, Boyce put up the only capitol he had, his retirement fund, and bought back the company he had never stopped managing. (City Bank, Lubbock, TX after 20 years remains a loyal client).

In 1992, the financial services vertical had over 18,500 banks. Today there are less than 5,800, but BankTEL continues to grow and gain market share. Currently serving 29% of the market, it aims to achieve over a 50% market share over the next several years.

Developing software based on user perspectives

The first product BankTEL launched was an accounts payable software with an ACH (electronic payment) that the banks could process by themselves. It created an automated process for managing invoices, saving key entry, reducing errors, and tracking invoices and approvals. When the software was developed in the early-90’s, most payments to vendors were made by printing checks. It was one of the first electronic payment systems, and its innovation saved manual work and hard costs. 

“The technology journey has been amazing – from pre-windows to client server, and now the Cloud,” says Boyce. The latest version of the product, BankTEL Ascend, is hosted in the Cloud rather than in-house.

Making customer needs a priority

“We have always gone the extra mile to listen to our customers’ needs.” 

BankTEL has continued to provide automation tools, from invoice scanning to workflow approval to employee expense reports. The BankTEL Ascend platform now covers 11 systems, all beta tested by client focus groups. Since BankTEL singularly serves a unique software vertical, they have been able to devote extraordinary resources to becoming experts in financial accounting. They are constantly working towards making the process seamless and paperless.

Now the company is rolling out a Vendor Portal, a cloud-based system that will allow vendors to electronically send invoices to the portal, eliminating the need to mail and scan hard copies. It’s also introducing a payment platform that will let banks pay vendors via virtual credit card, and it’s developing additional compliance and cyber security products. BankTEL software is supported by instructor-led training classes, web-based demos, and a growing collection of video tutorials and resources for new and existing customers.

Knowing the leader who made BankTEL Systems possible, CEO Boyce Adams, Sr.

Boyce Adams, Sr. co-founded BankTEL Systems in 1992, with only an idea and a conviction to develop software for financial institutions that uses automation to increase efficiencies and reduce costs. A marketing specialist by education and a salesman by spirit, Boyce Adams, Sr. is not a typical software executive. He spent the dawn of the PC-era in the oil industry, realizing how efficient corporations would be if they could figure out how to capitalize on this new opportunity for automation.

A brief but winding path led him to apply this conviction to financial institutions, and in 1992, he co-founded BankTEL Systems. Under his guidance, BankTEL has successfully designed accounting software that integrates with banking core systems for almost 30 years. Now BankTEL has grown to 35 employees and over 1,700 clients. It serves financial institutions in all fifty states, as well as in the Caribbean and several foreign countries.

Boyce’s motto is, “Always listen to customers.” Ultimately he started his own business to make sure that his customers receive exceptional service. “If you work for yourself, you can control how you treat your customers,” he says.

"At BankTEL, we’re proud to serve those who serve our communities. When you partner with BankTEL, you’re not just getting a software – you’re getting automated efficiency, expert-honed best practices, and dependable customer service."